Dear Elementary School PTA President (a.k.a. Superhero in Mom Jeans – or Dad Sneakers): Schools wouldn’t be a true community without you and we need strong communities to help raise resilient, happy kids. Without your efforts to bring parents together to…
October is Bullying Prevention Month. It deserves its own month because the terrible effects of peer mistreatment cannot be ignored, especially when you add cyberbullying to the mix. Bullying prevention efforts are most often geared towards middle and high schools and…
By September 7th, most kids up to the age of 18 will be back in school in the U.S. so I’ve designated September as National ‘Be Nice to the New Kid Month. “Kind words do not cost much. Yet they accomplish much.” —Blaise…
The Role of the Parent in Early Childhood Bullying Prevention Bullying Behavior Starts Young The guiding rule of action should be to intervene too early rather than too late. – Dan Olweus, PhD, and founder of the Olweus Bullying Prevention…
When my oldest began First Grade, a neighbor of mine who had children slightly older than mine, gave me this advice: “If you’re not going to volunteer in the school, don’t complain in the schoolyard.” I felt it was a…
School climate promotes — or complicates — a student’s ability to learn and achieve academically. This is common sense. To the extent that students feel safe, cared for, appropriately supported and lovingly “pushed” to learn, academic achievement should increase. This…
][I wrote you a book… Superheroes Wear Mom Jeans: The Tangled Ball® Guide to Anti-Bullying for Parents of Young Children Why? Parents of young children hold so much positive power. Coincidentally, talk show host Trevor Noah was promoting his own…
I’ve taken my foot off the pedal the past few months. I have to admit to fatigue. At times, I feel like a cheerleader for a team that only wins a few games a year and can’t seem to fill…
Raffi randomly came up in a conversation my husband and I were having the other day about how frustrating it must be to be a “pioneer.” We were discussing how we knew people 25 years ago that were talking about…